Aurora's drive-through Festival of Lights returns Friday

True to its City of Lights nickname, Aurora puts on one of the largest outdoor holiday lights show in the Chicago area.

Aurora's drive-through Festival of Lights opens for the season Friday night at Philips Park. The one-mile route features jumping reindeer, ice skating bears, Old Man Winter, howling wolves, Santa's toy factory, fields of gigantic snowflakes and other new scenes.

The park grounds are open each night from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. through Sunday, Dec. 25. Admission is free, but visitors must register for an entry ticket at aurora-il.org/FestivalofLights.

People can stay in their car while admiring the lights and tuning into holiday songs on a closed-circuit radio station.

More than 50,000 vehicles drove through the festival last year. Voluntary donations at the event raised funds for dozens of nonprofit and youth organizations in Aurora.